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Inspiring Egg Crack Challenge Goes Viral For Type 1 Diabetes!

By Type1toTypeNone • March 26, 2015

I want to start off by saying that I don't do this very often. I don't often share with people some of the things I've gone through in the past because I'm terrible at receiving sympathy and because I know a lot of people have life so much harder than I do. However, I would like to share my story in honor of the people that have shaped me into the person that I am and have been my motivation for helping to catalyze the Egg Crack Challenge for Type One Diabetes:

My junior year of high school I started dating Will Hauver. He was the kind of guy who hated to see other people down or upset. He was creative, witty, hilarious, optimistic, and thoughtful, and those were just a few of the characteristics I liked about him. These qualities of his helped me get through one of the most challenging years of my life, and for that I am forever grateful.

Before starting my junior year at McDonogh School, I received the devastating news that my best friend and soccer teammate, Amanda Post, had lost her long battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. She had been fighting for a long time, but this news still came as a shock. It took a long time for me to grapple with this news, and it is something that you can never truly get over. I still think about her every day. She was an amazing girl and a great friend, and her passing touched so many people in the community.

About a month later, my mom sat me down to share some more news. She had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer and would be undergoing surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation in the coming months to fight it. As much as this upset me, I knew that being supportive and positive was crucial during this time.

My mom is the strongest woman I know, and many that know her would agree. She tackled this disease head on and never let herself get caught up in negative thoughts, no matter what unexpected obstacles arose along the way. She accepted the sympathy of others graciously and worked her hardest to maintain her optimism and morale throughout the entire process. With just the two of us living at home that year (my brother living on McDonogh's campus and my parents recently divorced) my mom and I grew incredibly close. I was her emotional rock, as she was mine.

There is one story I can think of that perfectly epitomizes her fight against cancer: we were walking around Kohl’s, just browsing. My mom was trying on scarves and jackets and we were having so much fun being goofballs together. What my mom didn't know at the time was that I was following closely behind her every step, grabbing the large chunks of dirty blonde hair she was leaving behind. The time had finally come: the chemotherapy had taken grasp of her hair follicles and she was balding… fast. Later that evening, she had an epiphany. She wanted her hair gone, and she wanted to do it her way. We invited over our neighbor, Nancy, and pulled out the electric razor. One by one, starting with my mom, we took turns shaving off what remained of her hair. I would have never guessed that I would be shaving my mother’s balding head. Even more bizarre, I loved every second of it. It was so cathartic for me, and in that moment I saw my mom as the amazingly incredible, brave, and beautiful woman that she is.

That year was full of highs and lows (much like diabetes.. Literally ;)), but it has provided me with a passion for medicine and a desire to help others get through their struggling times as a physician. Will was there for me through all of this. He let me vent when I needed to, and cheered me up with random YouTube clips and jokes when the time was right. After his passing in February 2015 I, along with many others that loved Will, knew that we needed to create a lasting legacy for him that was fitting for the type of person he was: funny, creative, and selfless. One by one, we posted egg crack challenge videos, as Will had done in response to the ALS ice bucket challenge, and from there the challenge grew.

Please consider participating in the challenge. If not for Will, do it for the millions of people that live with or are affected by Type 1 Diabetes every day. It is not an easy disease; type 1 diabetics must constantly monitor their blood sugar levels, must count carbohydrates at every meal, must administer insulin injections or wear an insulin pump, and must manage their diabetes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. While some may make it look easy, it is not. We need to find a cure. Let’s turn type one into type none!